Richard Schiff

Richard Schiff plays Toby Ziegler, the communications director in The West Wing. Toby can look personally affronted by a badly chosen word. Schiff makes that exacting temperament amusing without turning it into a harmless eccentricity: the language matters to Toby because the decision behind it matters.

He won an Emmy for the role in 2000. His performance is often quieter than the argument around him. A pause, a reluctant concession or a look across the office can tell you how much the rest of the staff have left unsaid.

Schiff's other television roles include Occam in Manhattan, Roland Fancher in Counterpart, Jon Gottlief in The Affair and Dr Aaron Glassman in The Good Doctor. His film work includes The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Deep Impact, I Am Sam and Ray.

He has also performed the one-man play Underneath the Lintel and played Odin in God of War Ragnarök. The variety is considerable, but Toby remains a particularly satisfying role because it leaves room for Schiff's restraint. He does not need to make the character agreeable to make him someone worth listening to.